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(N0 ModeL) A.LLSTEPHENSM BEAN 0R FLOUR PAGKER.

Patented Jul No. 280,771. j'zyl.

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UNITED STATES FATENr @rricn.

ABNER L. STEPHENS, OF HUNTINGDON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIM SELF, B. F. ISENBERG, AND T. S. JOHNSTON, ALL OF SAME PLACE.

BRAN OR FLOUR PACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 280,771, dated July 3, 1883.

Application filed May 10, 1883.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ABNER L. Srnrnnns, of Huntingdon, in the county of Huntingdon and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new' and useful Improvements in Bran or Flour Packers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descrip tion thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved flour or bran packer, parts of which are shown in section. Fig. 2 is a section taken vertically and transversely through the center of the machine. Fig. 3isa detail of the packer, showing the lever, sliding bearing, and springactuated trip for throwing the driving-pinion out of and into gear.

My invention relates to presses which are especially designed for packing flour, bran, or other pulverulent material in bags, sacks, or other packages; and it consists in the combination, with a packing apparatus, of devices which will automatically stop the slow descending motion of the follower at the moment when a sack is properly packed, and also in means for giving a rapid ascent to the follower and a slow descent thereto; also, in the combination of a vertically-movable pressbox with a fixed casing, and avertically-movable follower, all of which will be fully understood from the following description, when taken in connection with the annexed drawings;

A designates the base of the main frame,

and B B B 13* are vertical uprights, which are rigidly framed into the base and connected together at their, upper ends by a horizontal piece, B which is aguide for a vertical screwshaft, 0, which passes freely through the hub a of a large beveled spur-wheel, D, which has an internal female thread that engages with the thread 011 the said screw-shaft. Thelower end of the hub a is supported upon ahorizontal cross-piece, B of the main frame, and just above the wheel D is a fixed cross-piece, 13 which has a feather, b, that enters freely a vertical groove, 0, made in the screw-shaft O, and prevents this shaft from rotating, although it allows this shaft vertical movement.

(No mocel.)

To the lower end of the shaft 0 is rigidly secured a square follower, C, which is free to enter a vertically-movable press-box, E, that is free to move up and down in a casing, F, three of the sides of which are permanently secured to the main frame on the foundation A, and the other side is a hinged door, which is locked in place, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, by means of a cross-bar, d, and hooksee. The press-box E is designed to contain the bags or sacks during the pressing operation and to prevent them from bursting, and this box is connected by chains or ropes h h (which are passed through eyes or over pulleys) to awindlass, Gr, having its end bearings in the brackets secured to the uprights B B. On one end of this Windlass G is keyed a spur-wheel, H, which engages with a spur-wheel, I, on a short driving-shaft, 1, bearing a belt-drum on one end and a beveled pinion spur-wheel, D, on the other, which latter can be caused to engage with the spur-wheel D on the screw-shaft when it is desired to depress the follower, The shaft 1 has a bearing in a loosely-swinging block, P, in the upright B and also a bearing in a verti eally-movable block, J, guided in the upright B. When this block J is down, the pinion D is disengaged from the wheel D, and of course there will be no motion imparted to the follower from said shaft 1. When the block J is raised by means of a hand-lever K the tongue of a beveled block, f, acted 011 by a spring, f, will be forced beneath said block J and will hold it up, so as to keep in gear the two wheels D D. On one side of the pressbox is a protruding tripping-finger, g, which is designed for retracting the block f, allowing the bearing-block to drop, and thus disengaging pinion D from wheel D, thereby stopping the motion of the follower and the press-box.

To get considerable power during the descent of the follower in the act of pressing, the motion must necessarily be slow; but in raising the follower I desire to give it a fast motion to economize time. This I do as follows: L designates a short driving-shaft bearing a belt-drum on its outer end, a large bevel spur-wheel, L, on its inner end, adapted to engage with the wheel D on the screw-shaft, and an intermediate spur-wheel, L adapted to engage with a spur-wheel, L on the windlass- IOC shaft G. Theinner part of the shaft L has its bearing in a vertieally-movable block, N, to which a hand-lever, L, is applied. Vhen the follower is down and it is desired to run it up, this can be done by depressing the handle of the lever L, which will engage the wheel L with ,the wheel I). \Vhen the follower is raised to a proper height, the lever L is released, and the wheel L allowed to disengage itself from the wheel 1).

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a packing-press, the combination of the serew-threaded and l on gitudinally-grooved lbllower-shaft, the fixed feather on the main frame, entering the groove in said shaft, the bevel spur-wheel I), and hub (1, having an internal female thread engaging with the said shaft, a pinion engaging with the wheel D on a driving-shaft, an external vibrating bearingblock and an internal vertically-movable bearing-block for this shaft, and a hand-lever ap plied to the inner bearing-block, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with the vertically-movable serew-threaded iollower-shaft, the wheel I), having a nut-hub confined between two crossbars of the main frame, the drivingshaft I, having its inner bearing'in a vertically-monible gravitating block, J, a spring actuated beveled block, f, for supporting shaft I when, wheel I) is in gear with wheel I), a vertically-movable press-box, and a tripping finger secured to this box for retracting said beveled block f, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

3. The combination of a Windlass and vertieally-movable follower, with a verticallyniovable press box, and a stationary casing adapted to receive the lower part of the pressboX when it is down, all constructed and operated substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

4. The combination, in a packing-press, of a vertically-movable screw threaded followershaft which does not rotate about its axis, with means for moving this shaft downward slowly and giving it a fast upward motion, an automatic-stop motion, a Windlass, a verticallymovable press-box hung by chains from the Windlass, and a stationary casing 011 the base of the packer-frame, all constructed and adapted to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I at'fix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ABNER L. STEPHENS.

\Vitnesses:

J. I. llIACLAY, H. U. CHANEYS. 

